Whirlpool WPT80P Whispure Air Purifier Review: a quiet, no-nonsense filter for small to medium rooms

I’ve been using the Whirlpool WPT80P Whispure in my bedroom and small living room for a few weeks now, and my overall feeling is: it’s not flashy, but it does the job. I bought it mainly for allergies and pet smells, and also because wildfire season has been getting worse where I live. I wasn’t looking for a fancy connected gadget with an app and colored lights, just something that quietly cleans the air without annoying me.

From day one, what stood out is how simple it is. You plug it in, tap a few touch buttons, and forget about it. No Wi‑Fi, no pairing, no nonsense. If you like tech toys, you’ll probably find it a bit boring, but if you just want cleaner air and don’t care about graphs on your phone, this is more than enough. The controls are clear, the modes are straightforward, and the timer is actually useful when you want it running for a few hours and then off.

In daily life, I mostly use it in sleep mode at night and medium speed in the evening when we’re cooking or the dog is running around. After a few nights, I noticed I was waking up with less of that stuffed‑up nose I usually get during allergy season. It’s not magic, I still have allergies, but the room feels less dusty and less “heavy”, especially in the morning. Odors from the dog bed and cooking smells also fade faster when it’s on medium or high.

So my first takeaway: if you expect a high-tech purifier with air quality sensors, this isn’t it. If you want a straightforward, quiet HEPA purifier for a bedroom or small living room, this thing is pretty solid. It’s not perfect – coverage is limited and filters aren’t cheap – but for a basic, reliable unit from a known brand, it gets the job done without drama.

In terms of value for money, I’d put the WPT80P in the “pretty solid” category, not outstanding, not terrible. You’re paying for a known brand (Whirlpool), a true HEPA filter, a carbon pre-filter, and a 5-year limited warranty. It’s not the cheapest 220 sq ft purifier out there, but it’s also not in the top premium price range. For a bedroom or office, the price feels fair for what you get: stable performance, quiet operation, and simple controls that just work.

Where the cost adds up is the filters. Over a couple of years, you’ll probably spend a decent chunk on replacements, especially if you run it a lot or live somewhere with heavy pollution or wildfire smoke. The good thing is you can find both OEM and third-party filters online, so you’re not locked into one expensive option. Still, if you want rock-bottom running costs, this isn’t the cheapest system, but it’s also not outrageous. It sits in a middle ground: you pay a bit more than for a no-name brand, but you get more trust in reliability and support.

Compared to some competitors in the same price range, you do lose out on smart features. No app, no air quality sensor, no auto mode. If you care about those, a similarly priced Levoit or Coway model might give you more tech. On the other hand, those sometimes have brighter LEDs, more beeps, or more things that can glitch. With this Whirlpool, you’re basically paying for simplicity and a brand that also makes big home appliances and has been around for a while.

So, is it good value? If your priority is a quiet, straightforward purifier for a single room, I’d say yes, it’s good value for money. If you want to cover multiple large rooms or you’re obsessed with getting the absolute best CADR per dollar, there are better options if you’re willing to shop around and maybe go with less-known brands. For a normal household that wants one reliable unit in the bedroom or living room, the price-to-benefit ratio is reasonable.

Design-wise, the WPT80P is pretty plain, and honestly that’s not a bad thing. It’s a slim white tower, about 23 inches tall, with a small footprint (roughly 8.5 x 7 inches). In practice, that means you can tuck it between a dresser and the wall or next to the couch without it taking over the room. I’ve had it in a tight bedroom corner and it doesn’t feel bulky or in the way. It looks like a generic appliance, which is fine if you’re not trying to make it a decor piece.

The plastic is matte-ish pearl white, not glossy, so it doesn’t scream “cheap”, but it also doesn’t feel premium. Think standard fridge or microwave plastic. The air intake is on the sides/front and the clean air blows out the top. The top panel with the touch buttons is slightly angled, which makes it easy to see and tap the controls when it’s on the floor. The icons are clear enough that you don’t need the manual after day one.

One thing I like: the lights on the control panel are not crazy bright. In sleep mode, they’re dim enough that it doesn’t light up the room. I’ve had other devices where I had to put tape over LEDs because the room looked like a spaceship at night; no need for that here. On the downside, there’s no handle. It’s light enough to carry, but I still wish it had a proper handle for moving it around more easily, especially when I’m shifting it between rooms with one hand full.

Placement-wise, you do need to give it a bit of breathing room so it can pull in air properly. I tried it once pressed too close to a wall and it felt like the airflow dropped. Once I pulled it out a few inches, performance seemed better and it sounded less strained. So design is overall functional and discreet, not pretty or stylish, but it blends into a normal home without drawing attention. If you want something that looks like high-end furniture, this isn’t it. If you just want a white tower that disappears in the background, it works.

In terms of comfort, the biggest factor is noise, and this one is pretty easy to live with. In sleep mode or on low, it’s basically a soft fan noise that blends into the background. I’m a light sleeper and can’t stand high-pitched whines or rattles, and I haven’t noticed any weird sounds from this unit. It’s more of a steady whoosh. My partner actually likes it as white noise, so we both leave it on every night now. On medium, you’ll notice it if the room is quiet, but it’s not annoying for TV or working.

Using it is very straightforward. The touch controls respond well – no repeated tapping or lag. The timer is handy when I want to run it for a few hours in the living room after cooking or when I leave the house. I’ll set it on medium for 4 hours and let it shut off on its own. The filter indicator is also useful so I don’t have to remember dates; it just lights up when it’s time to check/replace. Day to day, I basically only touch two buttons: fan speed and timer.

Moving it around is okay but not perfect. It’s light, but there’s no built-in handle, so you end up hugging it or grabbing it from the sides. Not a huge problem, but if you plan to shift it between rooms several times a day, it gets a bit annoying. I move it maybe once a day and it’s fine. Cleaning-wise, the outside just needs a quick wipe to remove dust from the vents every week or so. Opening the front to access the filters is simple – no tools, just clips – so that part is painless.

For sleep comfort, this is one of the better units I’ve tried. No bright LEDs, no random beeps in the middle of the night, and sleep mode is genuinely quiet. If you need total silence to sleep, you might still notice it, but compared to a regular fan, it’s calmer. Overall, in daily use, it’s one of those appliances that you set up and then don’t think about much, which is exactly what I want from an air purifier.

I haven’t had this exact unit for years yet, but I can comment on build quality and what I’ve seen so far, plus what other owners say. The plastic body feels solid enough – no creaks when you move it, the front panel clips stay in place, and the touch buttons haven’t glitched. I’ve run it pretty much daily for several weeks, often 8–12 hours a day, and there’s been no buzzing, no fan wobble, and no change in noise level. That’s a good sign for the motor and fan assembly.

Whirlpool gives a 5-year limited warranty, which is longer than a lot of cheap brands. That doesn’t guarantee it’ll last that long, but it’s better than the 1-year you see on many budget purifiers. Some Amazon reviews mention owning the previous generation for close to 10 years and still going, which is reassuring. Obviously, this newer model could be built differently, but at least the brand has some track record in this category.

Filter life is the part that will matter most long term. The HEPA and carbon filters are not the cheapest, but they’re not crazy expensive either. How often you replace them depends on how dirty your air is and how many hours per day you run it. In a normal home with pets and seasonal allergies, I’m expecting to replace the carbon pre-filter more often (every few months) and the HEPA maybe once a year or so. The antibacterial "Whishield" coating is supposed to keep bacteria from growing on the pre-filter, which in practice should mean less funky smells coming from the unit as the filter ages. So far, after several weeks, there’s no odd smell from the filter area.

If you ignore filter changes and run it with clogged filters, performance will obviously drop and the motor will work harder, so that’s the main maintenance risk. But as long as you’re willing to swap filters on schedule, it feels like a sturdy, low-drama appliance. No loose parts, no weird vibrations, and no overheating so far. I wouldn’t baby it, but I also wouldn’t constantly move it by the front panel; just treat it like a small fan with a bit more care and it should hold up fine.

Performance is where this thing actually justifies its price. I mainly bought it for allergies and pet dander, plus some smoke and cooking smells. In my bedroom (around 160 sq ft), running it on sleep mode all night and medium speed for an hour before bed, I noticed I woke up with less nasal congestion after 3–4 nights. I still sneeze in the morning sometimes, but compared to having no purifier, there’s a clear difference in how “stuffy” the room feels. Dust in the air seems reduced, even if surfaces still collect dust as usual.

On odors, the carbon filter is decent. When the dog gets wet or the litter box (in another room) starts to smell, running the unit on medium or high for an hour noticeably reduces the smell in the room where it’s running. Same with cooking odors: if I fry something and then move the purifier near the kitchen area on medium or high, the smell fades faster than without it. It’s not instant, and low speed is pretty weak for strong smells, but medium and high actually do something you can notice within 30–60 minutes.

Noise-wise, here’s how I’d sum it up:

• Sleep/Low: basically a soft hum, easy to forget. For me, it’s fine for sleeping, more like gentle white noise.
• Medium: clearly audible but still in the “background hum” category. Good for daytime or when you’re not trying to sleep.
• High: you definitely hear it, like a small fan on high. I wouldn’t sleep with it on high, but I use it for quick cleanups after cooking or if the air feels dusty.

For wildfire smoke, I had one mild smoke day recently. I kept windows closed and ran the WPT80P on medium in the bedroom and I didn’t get that scratchy throat I usually get when smoke sneaks in. Hard to say how much is just closed windows vs purifier, but the air in that room felt noticeably less “smoky” than the hallway. For heavy smoke days you’d probably want a bigger CADR rating or multiple units, but for moderate smoke it seems to help. Overall, performance is solid for small to medium rooms: good for allergies, decent for odors, and acceptable for light smoke and dust. It’s not miracle-level, but it’s clearly doing more than just blowing air around.

Out of the box, the Whirlpool WPT80P is very simple: you get the purifier itself with the HEPA filter and carbon pre-filter already installed. No assembly, no tools, just remove a bit of protective plastic, plug it in, and that’s it. It weighs a bit over 9 pounds, so it’s light enough to move from room to room with one hand. I’ve been dragging it from my bedroom to the living area without any hassle.

The unit is rated for up to 220 square feet, which in real life means: fine for a bedroom, home office, or a smaller living room. I tried it in an open-plan living room + kitchen that’s closer to 350 square feet. It still helped with smells, but you can feel it’s pushing its limits there. If your room is bigger than a normal bedroom, you might want two units or a larger model. This one feels more like a focused room purifier than a whole-apartment solution.

The controls are touch buttons on the top: three fan speeds (low, medium, high), a dedicated sleep mode, and a programmable timer (2/4/6/8 hours). There’s also a filter reminder light. Nothing fancy, but everything you actually need is there. No app, no voice control, no auto mode based on sensors. Personally, I didn’t miss those features, but if you’re used to more modern purifiers with PM2.5 readings and auto mode, this will feel a bit old-school.

On the spec side, it has a True HEPA filter that claims to capture 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns, plus an activated carbon pre-filter for odors. Whirlpool also pushes their "Whishield" antibacterial coating on the pre-filter. I obviously can’t measure bacteria on the filter, but the main thing that matters to me is that the filter doesn’t start smelling weird after a few weeks, and so far it hasn’t. Overall, the presentation is very straightforward: this is a no-frills HEPA tower for small to medium rooms, backed by a big-brand name and a 5-year limited warranty, which is decent reassurance for a device you’ll run daily.